“Hotels should be living things, not stuffy institutions”, say the Kemp’s owners of Firmdale hotels. A self-taught designer, Kit rebuilds and designs the properties from scratch. This evolved through practical as well as artistic necessity, as the properties include a former hospital, a multi-storey car park and a dental warehouse.
Kit’s style can be described as having an ‘English eccentric look’. Drawing upon the world around her for inspiration, Kit doesn’t work to a particular formula when designing her slightly quirky interiors. Each of her boutique hotel interiors can be recognized as an individual work of art. bold prints, eye catching colours and fabulous attention to detail - the small portrait on the wall or a painted pattern on a bedside cabinet.
She was named the Andrew Martin International interior designer of the year in 2008 and has gone on to win many more accolades. In 2010 New York’s Crosby Street hotel was listed as one of the best new or newly revamped business hotels in the world by Wallpaper and Fortune magazines.
Artist Statement; I have always admired the company, Christopher Farr. Their carpets have an artistic or intellectual thread running through the process of design and style. I liked the people that they had chosen to collaborate with in the past so when they asked me to do a fabric and carpet collection with them I leapt at the chance.
